Used Bookstores
by GeminiMercedes
Summary: Jaime has to buy new school books, but they are extremely expensive. And Bart doesn't find that crash at all. BLUEPULSE/ONE-SHOT


Bluepulse / One-shot

Used Bookstores

Jaime walked into the bookstore and sighed in relief. He had finally found an escape from the frigid weather November 21 had had to offer. He had another reason for coming to this specific bookstore. It was one of his school's bookstores, and he had to catch up on some of the readings that he had missed from not having some of the books he needed.

Keeping his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, he walked through the aisles searching for one of the books he was looking for.

He eventually came to it and smiled in relief. His smile completely disappeared when he saw the price tag.

"One-hundred and sixty dollars, are they serious?" He said aloud, earning sympathetic looks from the other students in the aisle.

He knew he didn't have _that_ much money on him, and he couldn't ask his parents – who were still struggling to pay off the rest of his tuition.

"What am I going to do…" he muttered to himself, picking up one of the books and staring at the price tag.

"You know, you don't _have_ to buy that book from here." A voice to his right piped up. Jaime jumped in surprise, not thinking anyone had been listening to him.

He turned to see a young man, probably a year younger than him, with brown hair and green eyes staring at him with his arms crossed.

"What?" Jaime asked, too surprised to register what the younger man had just said.

"I said you don't have to buy that book here. It's like super expensive, and that is _not_ crash." The younger man said matter-of-factly, shaking his head.

"Uhh…" Jaime didn't even know how to reply. The younger man seemed to understand his confusion and laughed. The sound of his laughter made Jaime's heart skip a beat. It was so joyful and carefree.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Bart. And you are…" The younger man said, stretching out his hand.

"I'm Jaime." Jaime replied, shaking the younger man's hand.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, back to business," In less than a second Bart had pulled out a flyer and placed it in Jaime's hand.

Jaime stared at him bewildered, having no idea where Bart had pulled that flyer from.

"You gotta come to my cousin's bookstore; it's a couple of blocks from here." Bart said ecstatically. He leaned in towards Jaime's ear and whispered.

"We have all the books they have here, but for way cheaper." He said before pulling back.

After hearing this, Jaime's eyes widened in surprise.

"How is that possible?" He wasn't trying to get involved in some black market bookstore, even if he couldn't afford the new books.

"Well students donate their used books to his store and he pays them for it. It's basically a used bookstore for students on a budget." Bart explained, checking the red watch on his wrist.

"Don't worry it's totally legit, my cousin had to settle it with the university and everything. We just aren't allowed to promote to students on campus." Bart explained quickly, as if he had picked up on Jaime's apprehension.

"So how…" Jaime started, realizing they were very much on his school's campus.

"I came to compare prices for my cousin and you seemed really sad, and I thought, a good looking guy like that shouldn't be looking so sad." Bart replied nonchalantly.

_Wait, what did he just say? _Jaime's head began to spin.

Both his and Bart's eyes widened and the younger man rushed to cover his mouth.

"I-I mean, I just…sorry." Bart said quickly, looking down immediately.

"This is so not crash." Jaime heard him mutter.

"Its okay, thanks for the compliment, I'll definitely come by and check it out." Jaime said honestly, with a genuine smile.

Watching Bart's smile return made him feel a bit warmer in what had been such a dreary day.

"Great, hope to see you there soon!" Bart said with a smile, turning on his heel and proceeding to leave the aisle.

As Jamie turned to put the book back, he heard that same voice come up right beside him.

"Here's my number, you know, if you ever need anything…" Bart whispered his face a couple inches away from Jaime's.

"I-I, will." Jaime replied breathlessly, staring at Bart's lips. He slowly took the paper Bart had placed in front of his hand.

And with that, the young man was gone.

Jaime stood there, trying to catch his breathe. He looked down at the paper Bart had handed him and smiled.

Maybe this year wouldn't be that bad after all.

xxx

**Yes, another bluepulse one-shot complete! I cannot believe they are cancelling Young Justice, it was honestly the only cartoon I would look forward to every week. Oh well, that doesn't stop my love for bluepulse! Hope you guys enjoy! And thank you for all the reviews on the last two stories, it means a lot!**

**-GeminiMercedes-**


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